>>Moto GPnews tBrave Pedrosa: the truth about hat injury ... DANI Pedrosa’s current black patch, triggered by a freak injury sustained at Mugello, actually has a more prosaic explanation, according to reports in the Spanish Press. Although Dani gave no confirmation, it seems the fracture and ligament damage to his right hip were actually originally caused in a bicycle accident before the Italian GP. The out-of-the- saddle flick during practice merely aggravated an existing problem. Pedrosa was left in severe pain, due to muscle and ligament damage to the top of his femur. As reported last week, the fracture to a protrusion from the bone was only diagnosed after his return from Italy, after he had fallen heavily once more in the race. Pedrosa spent the next days resting, and came to the start line of his home GP two weeks later against some predictions, and only with the help of rigorous pain-control. A carefully targeted injection in his right hip before the race and each session numbed the injury enough. When he fell again in qualifying, having to drop the bike to avoid running straight into the air fence, he again escaped further aggravation, but announced after another painful race that he was withdrawing from the single day of post-race testing. sits up so much front brake. “Basically we’re able to run more corner speed and hit the apex a lot easier, a lot faster.” For Hayden, the bike was more comfortable and he could push harder. The thicker seat pad had helped the turning, he felt. But many of the old problems remained, and while he was sixth on the first day of free practice, he crashed while battling to improve on his 13th-placed qualifying position. “You either slow down and go backwards on the grid or keep pushing and pretend you don’t feel the front pushing … but she got me,”he said. 13